


Academy of Lies and Love

by Khi0n3



Category: Kingdom Hearts, Video Games - Fandom
Genre: AU, Boarding School, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Multi, Orphaned Roxas, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-29
Updated: 2013-08-01
Packaged: 2017-12-21 17:54:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/903147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khi0n3/pseuds/Khi0n3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fire was devastating, leaving Roxas orphaned and with nothing. His wealthy aunt and uncle took him in, since they had no son of their own. They send him off to the most prestigious boarding school, KH Prep. There, Roxas wants nothing more than to fit in. He doesn’t want people to know he’s nothing more than a gutter rat dressed up in nice clothes. But despite his best efforts, he ends up being the focus of a mysterious admirer named Lea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He opened his eyes and exhaled, his breath fogging up the window of the taxicab. His eyes followed the racing raindrops down the window in their tiny streams. Beyond the raindrops was nothing but a green blur, the only colour in the grey gloom. Heavy forest lined the winding road that was taking him to his new life, a life he had never imagined for himself. He was sure this was all just a dream. Any minute now he would wake up. Any minute…

              Closing his eyes again, he repeated the internal chat of “any minute” as if he might actually wake up from this nightmare that had become his life.

              The taxi finally came to a stop in front of Iron Gate behind which stood several large buildings all built out of stone. It looked like a castle, or at least the closest thing he’d ever seen to a castle in his life. Above the gates was sign which announced the place to be Kingdom Hearts Preparatory School. Beyond those gates, the campus stretched as far as the eye could see. The campus was like a scene out of a fairy tale or something, with the large castle sitting in the middle of what looked like a picturesque mountain paradise, complete with lake and forest.

              Roxas stepped out of the car and stood on the cobblestone walk-way which led towards the main doors of the school. Other students and their parents where dragging their trunks towards the school on carts under black umbrellas, side stepping puddles to avoid getting their shiny black shoes wet. Roxas wiggled his toes and looked down at his own feet, hoping no one would notice his beat up Converse high tops with broken laces. He didn’t belong here anymore than an rat in a fancy restaurant. People were already looking at him like he was vermin.

              “Well, that’s everything,” the taxi driver announced, lowering Roxas’ trunk on the walk-way beside him. Everything Roxas owned was in that trunk, most of it was stuff his aunt and uncle had supplied him with since he had moved in with them. Most everything else had been lost in the fire. The fire that had claimed the lives of both his parents and stolen his reality.

              Roxas tried to ignore the image of their small apartment burning to the ground that was swimming before his eyes as he thanked the cabbie. He handed the man his wares and picked up his trunk by the handle in order to make his way towards his future.

              “Hope you have a great semester, son,” the man said with a smile, and slid back into his taxi, and driving off, leaving Roxas even more alone than he already was.

              “Me too,” he whispered as he took the first step towards the school.

              Roxas’ life had been turned upside down only a few months ago. Everything he’d known had been taken away from him in an instant. As he continued to walk through the rain, splashing the back of his tattered jeans as he walked through puddles, he found himself wishing for his old life. Wishing to wake up.

              It wasn’t like he’d grown up under the best circumstances, or in the best part of town. It wasn’t like his parents had really made enough money to support the three of them, but they had always managed to make ends meet. That life may not have been ideal, but it was all that he knew, and he’d give anything to have it back.

              When the fire hit, no one could believe it. No evidence could be discerned from the wreckage, the fire had burned to hot, destroying everything it had come in contact with. No one could fathom how the fire had even started. The police said it was a freak accident. But who really knew. It wasn’t like they lived in the best part of town after all. It could have been anything. Or anyone. The fire took everything, including Roxas’ parents. He had nothing.

              And so he’d been sent to his father’s brother and his wife. His aunt and uncle were extremely wealthy, his uncle being the CEO of a very powerful oil and gas company. They’d had no children of their own. They took Roxas in after fire, because his father and his uncle had been extremely close. His father had also been far too prideful to accept help in any way from his wealthy brother. It would probably have caused him great grief if he knew that his brother had adopted his son.

              His aunt and uncle were great. Some of the kindest people Roxas had ever met. He never could have believed people actually lived the way he was with them. They’d buy him clothing and shoes and computers and iPods and cell phones and video games with out even batting an eyelash. Roxas would come home from a day of work and find a brand new computer sitting on his desk.

              “Why?” he had asked. They had never answered, but Roxas thought it was probably because his uncle felt guilty for his brother’s death. He probably felt that if he had just insisted on helping him, things might not have ended the way they had.

              Now, here was Roxas. Standing at the gates to one of the world’s most prestigious boarding schools.

              Roxas refuses most of the gifts, insiting on wearing his old sneakers most of the time, or his old clothing when he could. He had also refused to let them bring him to the school. He didn’t want to be a burden on his aunt and uncle, so he tried to make his own way in their life. Not that they really ever gave him a choice.

              Pulling out his acceptance letter, Roxas scanned the print in hopes of figuring out where he was supposed to go from here. He couldn’t very well continue standing like an idiot in the entrance of the school. He was already attracting stares from the other students and their parents.

              _Upon your arrival, please make you way to the dormitories located in the building on the east side of the campus. Once you have checked in there, your room assignment will be given to you._

              After that there was a list of things students might find helpful to have in their dorm room.

              Roxas unfolded the map which had been included in the letter and scanned it quickly. His eyes landed on a building on the map labeled Dormitory. It appeared to be a separate building form the rest of the school. He lifted his eyes from the paper, and found the school building in front of him. He was still in awe by the sheer size of the building. He then let his gaze move to the east, where he expected to find the dormitories. If he thought the school was big, it was nothing compared to the dorms. It was five stories high and made up of two large wings. It was connected in the center by a large tower.

              “Well, at least I can’t get lost on the campus,” Roxas muttered to himself, and made his way towards the dorms. He walked along the cobbled walk-way, dragging his heavy trunk behind him.

With his blonde hair plastered to his forehead, and his sweater soaked right through, Roxas leaned against the French doors of the Dorm building, pushing them open. The entrance to building was packed with students and their belongings checking into their rooms with the parents anxiously running through lists to make sure their child hadn’t forgotten anything. The chatter was over whelming, particularly after the relative silence outdoors in the rain, with nothing but pitter-patter of rain drops hitting the stone walk-way and the slapping of feet hitting the wet ground as people ran for cover. Roxas pretended he didn’t notice the slight decrease in noise level when he walked in as people turned and stared at him. Soaking wet, he made his way to the check in counter which was manned by two students with a clipboard.

              “Roxas Strife,” Roxas grunted as the girl looked up at him with a kind smile.

              “Strife… Strife…” she ran her slender finger down the list. He watched her blue eyes scan the words in front of her once, then twice. “I’m sorry, I’m not seeing you here.”

              “Uhh?” Roxas blinked, he couldn’t fathom why he wouldn’t be on the list.

              “You’re a Freshman, right?” the boy sitting next to her asked.

              “No,” Roxas replied, confused.

              “Oh? But you’re new right? I thought I knew most of the students here,” the girl said, giving Roxas a quick once over with those enchanting blue eyes.

              “I am new. I just transferred in this year. I’m a Junior.” He wasn’t going to explain his life story to this girl he didn’t even know. If it was so hard for her to understand that he was a transfer student, then the next two years of his life were going to be a lot harder than he had even begun to imagine.

              “Oh! I’m really sorry! We usually don’t get transfer students!” she said, her face turning bright red as she flipped to another page on her clipboard. “Here you are!” Roxas let out a sigh of relief, although his heart was still pounding in his chest. He hadn’t realized how nervous he had gotten when she couldn’t find his name. It was like the world was telling him he really didn’t belong here. He really was an outsider. “You’re in room 413.” She handed him a set of keys with a tag that had in large print “Strife, Roxas. Room 413”

              “Thanks,” he grunted, taking the keys from the girl.

              “The elevators are to your left, your room is on the 4th floor. When you get off the elevator, turn right. It should be pretty easy to find. Orientation starts at 1600 in the first floor common room.”

              “Thanks,” he said again, and picked up his trunk to move out of the way. He dragged it in the direction the girl had indicated, towards the elevators. He was eager to get out of the curious gaze of the other students and into his own space where he could finally be alone.

              He depressed the button for the elevator, he seemed to be one of the only students interested in clearing out of the first floor, not having any parents to say good bye to. He waited silently in front of the stainless steel doors, trying to tune out the world around him. When the door slid open, he hauled his heavy trunk through the open door and pressed the button for the 4th floor. The button lit up, and the doors were just starting to close once again, when a hand flew in between the two doors and forced them open again. A body followed the hand, pulling a trunk similar to Roxas’.

              “Yo!” the guy said with a crooked smile. Roxas had never seen anyone quite like this boy. He was tall and slender, at first glance, you’d almost expect him to snap in half, but once you looked closer you could see his tight shirt clinging to his mucles. It wasn;t so much the tall, skinny part about the boy that surprised Roxas, it was more his hair. His flaming red hair. His spikey flaming red hair. It was messy and spikey and looked plain dangerous, yet oddly enough, Roxas couldn’t stop looking at it. Roxas couldn’t help but stare and wonder what that hair felt like. He wanted to reach out and touch it, but thought better of it. Instead, Roxas nodded in greeting and turned his eyes towards his feet, trying to ignore the other guy’s black bike boots that were scuffed and dirty. There was only one word Roxas could think of to describe this boy: Attractive. “Sorry about that dramatic entrance. Crazy ex, you know?”

              Roxas just nodded. He didn’t really know. He’d never really dated anyone he could consider crazy. None of his exs had really even become crazy after they broke up either. Most of his relationships had ended on good enough terms, and none of his exs insisted on stalking him, or whatever it was that ‘Crazy Exs’ did.

              “Sorry! I didn’t even introduce myself!” the boy said with a laugh, and held out his hand. Roxas took it and felt the callouses and scars that covered it. His breath caught in his throat. He tried to find it, yet no matter how hard he looked, it seemed to escape him. “The name’s Axel. Junior. Campus bad boy and Track and Field champ!” _Wow._ Thought Roxas, _a little high on himself, isn’t he?_

              “Roxas,” he answered, not interested in making small talk with this attractive self-proclaimed bad-boy.

              “You a Freshman?” Axel asked, looking Roxas up and down.

              “No,”

              “Really? How have I never seen you before? You’d think I’d remember beautiful eyes like those!” Axel took a hold of Roxas’ chin and tilted his face towards him looking right into Roxas’ eyes. Roxas tried to look away from Axel’s sparkling green eyes, and yet, he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away. He could hear his pulse pounding in his ears and his face growing red.

              “Transfer student,” Roxas finally squeezed out. Why did he feel this way? This guy was obviously a self righteous bastard. There was no way Roxas could find him attractive, even if he were gay.

              “Transfer student, eh?” Axel said under his breath, that twinkle in his eye growing brighter, “you ever need anything Roxy, just give me a shout, kay?” _Yeah right. Like I’m asking you for help. And whom are you calling Roxy?_ Nevertheless, he nodded. Axel released his face and the door to the elevator opened once more revealing the 4 th floor. “Home sweet home,” Axel said with a sigh, and dragged his trunk out of the elevator. Roxas followed and made his way to his room, trying not to make note of the fact that Axel lived in room 408. Not that he cared or anything.

              “See you around, Roxy!” he called from his door after he pushed it open. Roxas just nodded, and pushed open the door to his future. 


	2. Chapter 2

 

              Roxas closed the heavy wood door behind him and glanced around what would be his living quarters for the next ten months. To anyone else, the room would have seemed plain, boring, standard. To Roxas it was a luxury suite with a fantastic view of the campus. This room was almost as big as the apartment he had lived in with his parents.

              There was a desk on the far wall beneath the large window. From the window, Roxas had an excellent view of the lake, the running track, and the stables. _What kind of school has stables?_ In the corner was a single bed with nothing special to boast. It was made up with plain white linens and fluffy white pillows embroidered with the school crest. Across from the bed was a large wardrobe; its open doors revealed that there was nothing inside but a few bare hangers dangling over the drawers which filled the bottom of the wardrobe. As Roxas wandered into the room, depositing his trunk in the center of the floor, he noticed another door next to the desk. He pushed it open to reveal a bathroom complete with shower, toilet, sink, and mirror. _Can’t expect rich kids to have to share washrooms, I guess,_ he mused as he closed the door again.

              He wandered back to the main room and stood in the center in complete silence, taking in his surroundings. Every step he took into this strange new world made it seem less and less like reality. He was sure he was going to wake up in his small bed in Twilight Town any minute. His mom would be downstairs buttering toast for his father who would be rushing around trying to find his coveralls. He squeezed his eyes shut and focused on the image of his mother, her dark hair glistening in the morning sunlight, a sweet smile lighting up her tired face.

              When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in the middle of an unfamiliar room completely and utterly alone. He felt his knees give out, and before he was really aware of what was happening, he was sitting on top of his trunk with stinging eyes. The first tear rolled down his cheek and landed on his knee before he realized his was crying. For the first time since his parents had died, he was crying.

…

              He wasn’t really sure how much time had passed. Crying had felt good. It felt liberating, as if he was letting go of all the emotions he had bottled up inside of him since his parents’ deaths. Finally, he hauled himself off the trunk, and dragged himself into the bathroom where he started the shower. He let the water run hot, so that steam was filling up the small bathroom. He stepped under the hot spray and ignored the angry red blotches beginning to form on his skin. He let the water wash away his salty tears and his ragged breathing.

              What would his mother say to all of his sobbing? She would laugh at him surely. With a twinkle in her eyes she would tell Roxas to get a hold of himself. “Roxas” he could almost hear her voice. “Stop being silly. Look at this beautiful life you’ve been given! Look at all the things you are going to learn! This is far beyond what your father and I could ever have given you! Now stop mopping and go live your life!” Roxas had to admit, his subconscious version of his mother was probably right. He’d been given a second chance. He had to go out and live. He had to make the most of what had been given to him. Not that he’d be happy about it.

              No matter what, he was not going to let his mother down. He was going to prove that he belonged here, even if he knew deep down he didn’t.

              He rooted through his trunk and pulled out his uniform. Black slacks, a white collared shirt, red that would probably match Axel’s hair tie, and a black blazer embroidered with the same logo as was on the pillow. He dressed himself and avoided looking in the mirror, knowing he’d never recognize the boy staring back at him. Shaking out his wild blonde hair, he deemed himself ready to take on the school.

…

              If it wasn’t one thing it was another. No matter what Roxas did or where he was he felt out of place. It was only the first day, he constantly reminded himself as he sat in the common room on the main floor with about 50 other boys. All of them were Freshmen, many of them seemed to know each other. Roxas wasn’t very tall, so he blended in to the crowd of freshmen quite easily, it was more the general vibe that was coming off the other students, as if they knew he wasn’t born and raised in their circle of society.

              “Welcome,” said a student at the front of the group. He was taller than the rest of the boys, probably a senior. He had large rippling muscles that he showed off by wearing a tight black tank top. From his figure, Roxas guessed he was probably on the swim team. Roxas figured he was the kind of guy you avoided getting into fights with, you’d probably lose. “My name is Riku, and today I’m going to be your guide. I’m here to show you around the campus, teach you how things work here, and get you ready for the weeks ahead.”

              Roxas sat in his corner secretly wishing he was back upstairs in his room. Why did he have to come to the stupid orientation anyways?

              “Alright, kids!” Riku said enthusiastically clapping his hands together like he was trying to herd a room of six year olds. “First, open up your Orientation package that you picked up on your way in.” Roxas did as he was bid and flipped open the package. The first page was a long letter from the head master welcoming the new students. It expressed deepest gratitude for choosing their fine institute of higher learning and a desire for the years to come to be full of rich education. Roxas rolled his eyes at the overly political formality and flipped to the second page which outlined an itinerary for the day.

              1600-Welcome

              1630-Campus Tour

              1800-Dinner

              Sounded riveting. With a sigh, he turned to the next page, which rather than being printed on typical white paper, was bright pink with large font to attract that immediately drew in the eye.

              “The student council presents: Student Chat! An online peer communication media designed for students to help other students.”

              While the bright paper had caught Roxas’ attention as it was designed to do, he couldn’t say he was all that interested in signing up to a social media site for the rich and very rude students of KH Prep.

              The next few pages had a sheet containing the student code of conduct, which was similar to pretty much every other school Roxas had attended. Students were to show respect to their professors, they were to adhere to any rules laid out in each class room, they were to adhere to the uniform standards. There were also campus hours that Riku ran through and explained that they were non-negotiable.

              “Main campus closes at midnight. You are expected to be back in the dorm building by that time. The main campus reopens at 0600 the next morning. Breakfast is served in the dinning hall from 0600 until 0900, which is when the majority of classes begin. Classes run from 0900 until 1500, with an hour break between 1200 and 1300 for lunch. Dinner is served at 1800 every night. The gym facilities are open from 0500 until 2300. All students are welcome to use any of the gym facilities at any time during the day, when not in class and so long as they aren’t interfering with the team practices.”

              Riku took a few questions, which to Roxas seemed silly. “What if I’m sick in the middle of the night?” and that sort of thing. Riku answered them all with a smile on his face.

              Riku was just rounding up the students to begin the tour when he paused.

              “Wait! I almost forgot about this!” He held up the bright pink paper which had been in the orientation package. “The student council is strongly recommending that all students participate in the Student Online Chat. Many older students have used it in the past, and continue to use it now. You can receive peer tutoring through the site, and some helpful hints from older students about which profs to avoid and what not.

              I know I’ve used it. I’ve made some friends through the chat, as well as found some gym buddies, and gotten some help on my homework.”

              Most of the students rolled their eyes, deciding that it was a colossal waste of time to bother signing up. Roxas knew that as soon as they had split up again, more than half of the students would anonymously sign up for the chat. 

              From there they went on a tour of the campus. They started with the dorms, which Riku explained was a five-floor building. Each floor housed all the students from each year. Half the floor was dedicated to either the female students, or the male students. Each floor had two common rooms with couches, televisions, and homework tables. Some students used it as a study location, other used it as a place to relax.

              From there, they made their way to the main building. As they came closer to the building, it dawned on Roxas how huge the castle like building truly was.

              First they checked out the library. Roxas had never seen a library that huge in his entire life. It seemed to him that probably very book in existence was in that library. Two stories of book shelves crammed to the point of bursting ran from wall to wall, except where there were little study alcoves. He was sorely wished to ditch the tour and immerse himself in the thousands of books in the library. Two years would be enough to even make a dent in the pile of books before him.

              However, before he could make the decision to escape from the group, Riku was already moving on.

They passed by a number of wings and hallways, each one dedicated to a particular field of study. Roxas tried to keep the all straight, but before he had even memorized the location of one wing, they were on to the next. He knew he wasn’t the only one feeling totally overwhelmed by the sheer size of the school and trying to remember the location of each of his classrooms.

Roxas did, however, begin marking off on his map to location of the corridor where each of his classes were to be held, and started looking for landmarks to make it easier for himself.

Riku then brought them to the recreation center, which he was far more enthusiastic about than any of the other stops on their tour. The rec center was a completely separate building from the rest of the school, much like the dorms were. It was two stories high, the upper floor being mostly a five lane running track that circled the perimeter of a triple gymnasium. The rest of the up stairs space was taken up by two of every weight machine Roxas could imagine. The lower floor had rows up rows of cardio equipment, and free weights. Tucked away in the corner behind the triple gym was an Olympic sized swimming pool complete with a high diving board. Even Roxas, who had never really found a reason to work out, found the facility impressive.

Finally 1800 rolled around, which meant dinner. Roxas hadn’t realized that his stomach was growling loudly in hunger until they got closer to the dinning hall and the smell of food starting wafting towards him. He followed Riku and the rest of his orientation group to the hall and was once again struck by the sheer size of the room. Scattered around the hall was 30 or so large tables which seated each about 20 students. At the head of the hall was a long table which seemed to be dedicated to staff members. At the back of the hall there was a buffet system, about 5 spreads each with a line of students chatting idly about their summers with their classmates. Roxas got in one of the lines and waited as the line snailed forward.

              “Hey! Roxy!” he heard a shout from behind. Roxas wanted to melt into the floor as he turned around slowly towards the voice. He hoped to god that the voice calling out over the crowd wasn’t who he thought it was. No sooner had he turned around did he see the face he was praying he wouldn’t see. A head over top of the sea of people, topped with wild flaming red hair grinned mischievously at Roxas. Axel pushed through the crowd towards him with two shorter guys in tow. Axel was wearing his uniform now, but he was definitely not up to standard with the top few buttons undone giving a peak at his toned chest muscles and sharp collar bones, his tie hung loosely around his neck. As he drew closer, Roxas realized that he was still wearing the heavy biker boots he’d been wearing in the elevator. He might have found the slack look attractive, if he were into guys.

              “Hey,” Roxas grumbled when Axle was close enough to hear him. Roxas turned beet red wishing harder and harder as Axel closed in that he really could pass through the floor at that moment. Curious faces were turning towards him. Who had caught the attention of the self-proclaimed bad boy?

              The two guys behind Axel were almost as unforgettable as Axel himself. One was as tall as Axel with short spikey blonde hair that looked as if he had run his hand through it wet and it had just held it’s shape. The other was smaller with a mop of blue hair hanging in his face.

              “Mind if we join you?” Axel asked, throwing his arm around Roxas’ shoulder as if he and Roas had been best friends their entire life. Secretly, Roxas wanted to shrug off Axel’s arm, but decided not to slight the “bad-boy” in front of the rest of the school, who were now watching intently. Roxas figured that Axel was only here to butt in line, which had gotten significantly longer since Roxas had joined it. He made a mental note of being on time for meals from now on, knowing that the line would probably get long, and he would have to wait even longer for his meal. While he didn’t really want the attention that having Axel standing near him seemed to invite and he longed to tell him to fuck off and get in line like the rest of the students,  nor did he want to get on this guy’s bad side, seeing as he seemed to command the attention of the entire room.

              “Sure,” Roxas muttered, moving aside to make room for the three strangers.

              “Thanks, Roxy,” Axel said with a smile, slapping him on the back with his huge hand. “How’d the orientation go?”

              Roxas just shrugged, indicating that it was nothing special. _Just stop talking to me,_ he silently begged.

              “Mmmm! I know what you mean,” Axel replied thoughtfully nodding seriously. “Oh!” he jumped as if he’d just remembered something, “This is Demyx and Zexion.” He indicated first the guy with the blonde hair then the shorter one. They extended their hands in greeting. Roxas took each in turn and introduced himself.

              “You’re a junior, right?” Zexion asked

              “Yup,”

              “What classes you taking?”

              “Uh. Bio. Chem. Calc. English. And PE.” _Keep your answers short and sweet. Eventually they’ll lose interest._

              “Ah, we are probably in the same Calc class,” Zexion replied, “Although I can’t rescue you from Ax in Bio or PE. Sorry.” _Great. Two classes with the too-friendly red head bad boy._

              “Hey! We have English together too!” Axel interjected, “and he wont need rescuing from me, thank you very much!”

              “Right,” Demyx answered sarcastically. Finally they reached the front of the line and Roxas turned away from the conversation to load his plate with salad and chicken. He tried not to laugh at the stack of meat and buns Axel had loaded onto his own plate.

              “Come sit with us, Roxy,” Axel cooed, motioning towards a table. Roxas, not really having anywhere else to sit, found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place once more, so he followed the other boys to a table in the far corner. Already a few students were seated around the table at the far end. Sitting across from Axel, Roxas immediately started shoving food in his face in order to avoid any further questions.

              “Oi, Axel! Harasing the new kid already?” a voice called from the other end of the table. Roxas looked up to a girl with mahogany hair and a round grinning face.

              “Ah, whatever, Kairi! He’s here by his own will, right Roxy?” Roxas wanted to shake his head no, but thought better of it. Instead he just forced a smile to his face and tried to keep the pain out of his eyes. The girl, Kairi sat back down with a smile and continued her conversation with the boy sitting across from her, Riku.

              After all the students had finished eating their meal, a man at the head table stood up and made his way to the podium. He looked young; early forties at the very most. He hand long flowing silver hair which framed his narrow face with strong cheek bones and a strong jaw. His skin was tanned, as if he had spent every waking moment of the summer break lazing in the sun. Even from the distance at which Roxas sat, he could make out the man’s golden eyes as they swept the hall for signs of misbehavior.

              “Welcome,” his low voice commanded the attention of the entire hall. It carried to the far corners. “Welcome to another year at Kingdom Hearts Preparatory School. We are please to welcome our new students, and hope their time with us fruitful. To our old students, welcome back. As always, I expect you all to study hard and make the most of the year ahead of you. There are many great things in store for you all.” He sat back down in his chair at the head table. For a moment, the hall remained completely silent, and then all at once, every student started up their conversations and pushed away from their tables.

              “Who was that?” Roxas asked under his breath to Axel as they filed out of the hall.

              “Professor Xemnas, the Headmaster. He’s a bit of a hard ass.”

…

              Roxas flipped open his laptop and waited for it to boot up. He wasn’t really sure what had possessed him to pull out his lap top, it wasn’t like he’d kept in contact with anyone from his old life, so there was no point in checking his facebook. He’d already texted his Aunt and Uncle letting them know he’d moved in safe and sound and that everything was great.

              The thought of catching up on any other social media, like tumblr, seemed daunting since it had been almost 3 months since he had logged on.

              It wasn’t even like he had any homework he needed to get started on

              For a long time he just stared at the desktop screen disinterestedly. He was just about close the lid of the laptop again when a bright pink sheet on his desk caught his eye.

              Student Chat. What a waste of time. What a joke. And yet. The longer he stared at the flyer, the more interested he became in the idea. He found himself opening the web browser on his computer and typing the URL into the bar at the top.

              A log in screen popped up on the black web page emblazoned with the school logo. He clicked the Sign Up link at the bottom of the page and filled out the form.

              Name: Roxas Strife

              Student ID: 201494813

              User ID: RXIII

              Before he really had time to consider what he was getting himself into, he clicked the submit button and was redirected to a profile page.

              He filled out some of the information, such as his name, his birthday, and his class schedule so that he might get in contact with some of his class mates.

              When he looked up, he realized that it was well passed 2300 and he figured he should probably get some rest before his first day of classes. He closed the laptop and stripped off his uniform. After his nightly routine of washing his face and brushing his teeth, he crawled into the bed in the corner, trying not to notice how comfortable it was. He set his alarm for 0700, and turned off the lamp, letting himself be lulled into sleep by the sound of the rain hitting the window. He ignored the dark corners of his mind until finally sleep took hold of him and he was drifting in a cloud of memories.


	3. Chapter 3

 

              The alarm brought Roxas out of the dream world. He couldn’t remember what he’d been dreaming about, but all he could remember was a lot of red. Red flames? Flaming red…

              As he blinked the sleep out of his eyes, he tried to focus on the room around him. It took him a second to remember where he was. _Oh yeah, I’m going to a boarding school now._ He sat up in his bed and stretched. The bed was so warm and comfortable, he didn’t want to get out. It was like lying on a cloud, and yet, if he wanted to make it to the dinning hall in time for breakfast, he would have to get his ass in gear. He bustled around his room, packing his bag for the day, finding the pieces of his uniform. Once he was satisfied he was adequately prepared for the day, he jumped in the shower, letting the hot water pour over him.

              He was just about ready to head out of his dorm room when he realized he still had 15 minutes to 0800, so he sat down at his desk and pulled out his lap top. He didn’t know what fueled his sudden curiosity, but he knew he’d never be satisfied until he had checked the chat site.

              He opened the page and waited for it to load. He honestly wasn’t expecting what he saw. He wasn’t really sure what he was expecting. Maybe a blank page. Maybe a friend request or two. Certainly not a private message.

              “Hey gorgeous!

              I’m a junior too, and it looks like we have a few classes together! If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask! A good looking guy like you will never find himself alone in this place ;)

-Lea”

The sender was addressed as LEA08. Roxas could feel his face growing red. Could this Lea really say he was good looking from one photo on his profile? Or had they seen him yesterday and recognized him when they saw his picture on the chat site.

He didn’t even know how to respond to the message, so he just went with the simplest answer he could come up with.

  “Hey Lea,

  Thanks for the message. Hopefully we can help each other out in our classes then! I look forward to meeting you in person!

-RXIII”

He hit the send button then closed his computer and shoved it back in his bag as he heard the sound of the mornings first bell, announcing that class would begin in ten minutes. He couldn’t be late for his first day of classes.

…

Roxas sat down in his first class. The room’s walls were lined in chalkboards which didn’t hold even the slightest trace of chalk scribbles from the previous semester’s lectures that had likely been conducted in this room. The summer cleaning staff had obviously spent hours painstakingly wiping away this evidence of the classes taught in this room. Facing one of the black board walls was rows of low student desks with high backed plastic chairs tucked carefully in. Apparently five star private education fees didn’t include fancy desks with more comfortable chairs for the students. The wall opposite from the heavy wood door was lined with large windows which gave an exquisite view of the dormitories, it’s large stone bulk with hundreds of glittering windows in the morning sun loomed over the rolling green lawns of the campus.

There were already a few eager students sitting in desks with notebooks flipped open and the date neatly printed in the corner of the first page. Their hands were folded neatly, resting on top of their desks and their eyes facing the blank chalk board, waiting for their professor to enter and begin his lesson.

Grateful that he’d taken the time to find his classrooms the previous day, Roxas had had no problems locating his first class of the day. Now, Roxas sat in the seat he had carefully chosen at the back of the room, hoping that this would discourage the glances of his new class mates. He pulled out his own notebook and pen, carefully placing them on his desk and waited quietly as the room slowly filled around him.

The professor entered the room just as the second bell rang. He didn’t say good morning to any of his students as he placed his coffee mug on the desk at the front of the room. The smell of dark roast coffee and tobacco trailed behind the professor as he made his way down the alley between the desks. Not having really gotten a good look at him earlier, Roxas tried not to gasp when he saw the professor’s face. The man had a severe looking face, like he’d seen his share of hardship. His cheeks were hollow and sunken in, a scar trailed down his left cheek and ended somewhere around his jaw bone. His golden eye scanned the room carefully, but his right was hidden under an eye patch. Long black hair, streaked with white was pulled back into a pony tail at the bas of his skull and hung down his back. He wore a expertly tailored suit which accentuated his slender, yet muscular frame.

Roxas knew immediately that this was the kind of man you never crossed.

“Welcome to hell,” he said in a low voice. It was raspy, probably from the cigarettes he obviously smoked daily. “My name is Dr. Xigbar, you will refer to as such. I will not respond to Xigbar, Xiggy, Mr., Yo, Hey You. You are at an institute of higher learning now, and I expect to act as such.”

He turned his back to the class, not a single student made a noise as he picked up his chalk and scrawled on the board in messy handwriting: Math 301: Calculus.

Roxas tried to keep himself focused on the low, raspy voice of Dr. Xigbar, but before long he found himself drifting off into his own thoughts. More than once he found himself thinking about the message he’d received from LEA08. Who was this Lea? Did they know who he was? The message had been so straightforward and simple. Everything Lea had said in the message could easily have been deduced from Roxas’ profile, although he couldn’t fathom where the “hey gorgeous” comment had come from. He’d never particularly considered himself anything other than average. He definitely would not have described himself as gorgeous, even based on the picture he’d chosen as his profile picture, a picture of himself sitting in the kitchen of his home in Twilight town. A picture taken by his father only a few weeks before the fire.

When the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson, Roxas closed his notebook over the first page, now filled with doodles and scribbles.

He was just slinging his backpack over his shoulder when the slender blue haired youth from the night before came up behind him.

“Yo, Roxas right?” he said brightly.

“Mmhmm,” Roxas searched his memory for the name of the kid standing in front of him. It was something weird. Something he’d never heard before. Zex-something… Zexion?

              “How’d you enjoy your first lesson?” Zexion asked, grinning slightly as if he knew something that Roxas didn’t. They were walking out of the classroom now, behind the herd of students making their way to their next lesson down the large marble floored corridor.

              “Well…” Roxas started. “To be honest, I found my mind wandering quite a bit.”

              “Don’t let ol’Xiggy catch your mind wandering in his class!” Zexion warned, “he can be a hard ass if he thinks you aren’t paying attention.”

              “He looked to me like he wasn’t the kind of professor that I wanted to end up on their bad side.”

              “Certainly not!” Zexion smiled, “Where are you headed?”

              “English,” Roxas replied, consulting his schedule, which he had kept clamped in his hand.

              “That’s where I’m headed too,” Zexion told him with a friendly smile, “I’ll walk with you if you want.” Roxas nodded in thanks and the two continued down the corridor. Roxas liked Zexion. He didn’t talk much. He didn’t pry. Every now and then he would point something out and give a slight side note for Roxas, such as “That statue is a relatively new addition. The old statue was destroyed when a couple of student who were goofing came racing around that corner and took out the statue.” Or “Twelve years ago that wing was completely destroyed in a fire. It’s never been completely rebuilt and is mostly off limits to students.”

              Roxas listened to the little tid bits of information with mild interest as they walked down towards their next classroom.

              Upon entering the next classroom, Roxas came to realize that most of the classrooms in the school were very similar, with their walls lined with chalk boards and the far wall holding windows which gave varying views of the campus. His English classroom faced west, therefore giving a view of the glittering lake. This classroom, like his Calculus classroom was filled with the same low student desks with the same plastic chairs.

              However, standing in the front of this classroom, with his back turned to the desks as he wiped off the board was a man who Roxas could tell almost instantly was worlds different from Dr. Xigbar. When the professor turned around, Roxas was already seated in the desk directly behind Zexion. This professor had a much kinder face. The angles were not as harsh, nor as intimidating. He didn’t look like a hardened criminal, or the type of person who would put you in detention for breathing too loudly in his classroom. He had a wild mess of blond hair and a beard, clipped neatly like Iron-Man. To top it all off, his eyes were a shocking shade of blue, unlike anything Roxas had ever seen before.

              Dr. Luxord, as he had introduced himself as had a gruff voice, but it was pleasing to listen to as he explained some of the novel studies they would be conducting through the semester.

              “We will be taking a look at ‘A Street Car Named Desire’ first, followed by… ahh, Axel how nice of you to join us!” Roxas tried his best not to turn around and face the source of Dr. Luxord’s distraction, knowing full well that Axel would make some kind of gesture or remark at him, singling him out from the rest of the students and bringing attention to the fact that he was new and different.

“Well, you see Sir, I got a little turned around on my way here from my other class.” Too late. Roxas couldn’t help but turn towards the source of that suave voice, rich with laughter and sarcasm. As soon as he turned around, he was caught in the level gaze of those bright green eyes. Roxas tried to ignore his racing heart, and hoped to god his face wasn’t actually turning red, as he felt the heat rise under his collar. Axel looked much like he had the night before, slightly disheveled, but in an attractive sort of way. Roxas tried to shake the word ‘attractive’ as a adjective to describe Axel out of his head, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say. A small smile stretched across Axel’s lips as Dr. Luxord answered.

“I’m sure that is exactly the reason, and it has nothing to do with the fact that you are a lazy, spoiled brat.”

“I’ve got to keep up with my ‘bad boy’ rep, sir,” Axel answered, turning his gaze back to the professor and finally releasing Roxas from his gaze.

“Of course,” Luxord answered, his exasperation colouring his words, “please take a seat, Axel.”

Axel threw himself down in the seat next to Roxas, dumping his backpack on the floor, but not bothering to lean over and pull his notebook out. Instead, he just slouched down in the plastic chair, propped his biker boots up on the chair in front of him, and twiddled with a pen between his long, slender fingers. Roas tried to continue to focus his attention on Dr. Luxord, but couldn’t help but steal glances at the strange red-head sitting beside him.

Why was this stranger capturing Roxas’ attention so completely? What was it about Axel that had Roxas’ heart racing? It wasn’t like he knew this guy at all. And it certainly wasn’t as if he were gay.

Finally fed up with trying to ignore Axel in order to pay attention to Dr. Luxord, Roxas returned his attention to the strange Lea, and started wondering what kind of person this Lea could be.

…

“Good morning, Roxy,” Axel whispered in his ear from behind as Roxas retreated down the corridor to his next lesson, Biology.

“Good morning, Axel,” Roxas grumbled, trying his best to remember the way to the Biology classroom. Despite his careful planning the day before, he found himself totally turned around and lost.

“Enjoying your lessons so far?” Axel asked.

“Immensely,” Roxas answered. At Roxas’ one word answer, Axel made an exaggerated motion of frustration, throwing his arms dramatically above his head.

“Why do you have to be such a zombie all the time?” he asked, exasperated. Roxas just shrugged. He wanted nothing to do with this tall, over friendly red-head who seemed adamant on becoming Roxas’ friend. _Just leave me alone._ He silently begged. _Leave me alone, I don’t want anything to do with you._ Despite the fact that his heart was racing in his chest. Despite the fact that he couldn’t help but glance side ways at him. Axel let out a loud groan at Roxas’ refusal to be anything other than a zombie. They continued down the corridor in silence for a moment longer before Axel finally started up another conversation.

“So why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?” Axel said nonchalantly, weaving his fingers together and then cupping the back of his own head in his hands.

“There isn’t much to tell,” Roxas replied with a shrug.

“Of course there is! You are the mysterious new boy! The transfer student!” Axel said, throwing his hands enthusiastically into the air. “You’re the talk of the school, and it’s only lunch on the first day!”

Roxas cringed inwardly. That was exactly what he’d been trying to avoid. He had wanted to stay out of the gossip of the school.

“Really?” he said, trying to seem like it didn’t bother him at all, but he was pretty sure he heard his voice crack slightly. He cleared his throat, and forced his face to look politely puzzled as he turned to Axel.

              “Nobody knows who you are, where you came from,” Axel explained, raising an eyebrow with mild interest. “I intend to find out.”

              “What if you don’t like what you find?” Roxas asked.

              “I find that hard to believe. Anyone here can’t possible have such a tragic backstory as to scare me away. Plus, you’re pretty cute, and that means that you’re stuck with me.” Axel winked at Roxas, who quickly turned his face away to hide what was unmistakably the warmth of a blush creeping into his cheeks. Did he just get called cute by a guy? But. It wasn’t like he was gay or anything. Getting hit on by other guys was not something he was used to. Roxas busied himself with the strap of his bag which had gotten twisted when he had pulled the bag over his shoulder after leaving his previous lesson. He didn’t look back at Axel, even when he heard him laugh softly. What was this guy?


	4. Chapter 4

              Nothing remarkable could be said about lunch. The dining hall was set up much the same as it had been the previous night. Instead of the meats and potatoes that had been so carefully arranged for dinner, the buffet was piled high with sandwiches, fruit salad, and bottles of water. Roxas grabbed a ham and swiss sandwich and a large scoop of the fruit salad before following Axel to a table in the same corner as the night before.

              Inwardly, Roxas sighed with relief when Demyx and Zexion joined them. Their presence and Demyx’s chatter filled the awkward silence that had been growing between Axel and Roxas since Axel’s comment in the corridor. Axel’s words echoed in Roxas’ head. _You’re pretty cute_. That had to have been a joke. Right? Why would anyone, particularly Axel, say anything like that to him? There was simply no way he was really getting hit on by a guy. A guy he had just met no less. And he, Roxas, certainly wasn’t gay!

              An image of his ex-girlfriend, standing in the rain watching silently as the taxi carried Roxas to a new life. As it carried Roxas into the dream world that had become his reality.

              _Roxas!_ He catching himself in the memory as he felt tears start welling up in his eyes. _Get a grip! You are over thinking this! Maybe that’s just how rich people act towards each other._ Secretly he knew this wasn’t true, but it helped calm his whirlpool of thoughts rushing around in his head.

              “Yo, Roxas!” Axel’s voice brought him back to the surface.

              “Yeah?” he replied, lifting his eyes from his sandwich.

              “You alive in there?” Axel asked, his gaze somewhere between concern and playful mocking. Roxas gave his typical shrug in response before returning to his lunch. “I suppose alive is a relative term in your case. You’re practically a zombie!”

              Demyx sniggered at the comment.

              “He sort of is a zombie, isn’t he?”

              “Right?” Axel replied, obviously pleased with himself for coming up with the clever comparison to describe Roxas’ perpetual state of indifference. Roxas rolled his eyes as Demyx and Axel began impersonating Roxas, or rather a zombie. Instead, he turned his thoughts away from Axel. Away from Olette. Away from the pain. He brought his thoughts back to Lea. He was itching to find out if Lea had responded to his message yet. Silently, he wondered why he was interested in the mysterious email. His wandering mind found him wondering if he’d already passed Lea in the stone corridors of the school. If they had already sat in the same room, listening to the same professor give the same lecture. _If you have,_ a voice said in the back of his mind, _why hasn’t Lea said anything yet?_ He felt sudden doubt deep in his heart. What if all of this Lea stuff was a joke. And yet, he couldn’t help but hope he had a friend in the mysterious Lea.

              Lunch hour ended and the four of the rose from their table, heading in the direction of the science wing. As they walked, Zexion and Demyx argued enjoyable about a book they had read over the summer. Half listening to the conversation, Roxas focused most of his attention on ensuring that he stayed at least half a step behind Axel as he took huge strides towards the class room, the sound of his biker boots hitting the stone floor almost echoed, despite the crowd around them. Roxas wanted to avoid any more comments from Axel. He wanted to avoid the glances he knew he was getting, the attention, and the remarks.

              Finally, the four of them took seats in the back of the class room. As was his habit, Roxas pulled out his notebook and placed it gently on his desk with a pen. He opened it to the first blank page and in neat handwriting wrote at the top Biology 300. He folded his hands together, rested them on top of his notebook, and turned his attention quietly to the front of the room.

              As was his habit, Axel hooked his foot around the chair in front of him in order to pull it closer to himself. Once it was within the reach of his long legs, Axel propped his foot up on the chair, and leaned back in his own.

              The professor entered the room so silently that Roxas didn’t even notice he was there until he was clearing his throat at the front of the room. Something about this professor reminded Roxas of a ghost. Or a vampire. He was tall and slender, making Axel look like a body builder. Sheets of silver blonde hair hung around his shallow face. Cheek bones sharp enough to cut yourself jutted out. His thin lips were held in a slight frown are he surveyed his class. When he opened his mouth to speak, Roxas half expected to see fangs protruding from his gums. Instead he was only greeted with and icy voice that rose goose bumps on his arms.

              The lesson was conducted in a similar fashion to all the other lessons Roxas had already attended that morning. Professor Vexen ran through the course syllabus quickly, explaining which topics they were going to cover during the semester and what kind of projects and exams to expect during the four months. Axel wasn’t really paying attention, he was too busy doodling in his note book with his feet propped up on his chair to really care. He ripped a few pages out, the sound like a loud zipper filling the room and earning Axel a glare from Dr. Vexen. Roxas rolled his eyes. This slacker was never going to go anywhere in life. As the thought passed through his head, another thought rolled by: Axel wouldn’t have to apply himself in school. His parents would probably take care of him for the rest of his life. Or at least his parent’s money would. Clenching his jaw, Roxas turned his attention back to the lecture.

              “Part of the course is conducting dissections and experiments during class time, to which you are required to write a report on, detailing what you did and what you learned,” Dr. Vexen explained. That didn’t sound so bad to Roxas. Biology had always been on of his stronger subjects, and he’d always been pretty good at writing reports. He felt as if this course was going to be an easy A until Professor Vexen cleared his throat and continued. “However, labs and lab reports will be done in pairs.” Roxas felt his heart sink. In pairs? He didn’t know anyone in this class, besides Axel, Zexion, and Demyx. If he had to chose one of them, he would have chosen Zexion, who as far as Roxas could tell, was the most astute of the three, but as he turned to catch Zexion’s eye, he noticed that he was already nodding slightly to Demyx. Roxas turned back around and sunk into his chair, trying his best to avoid Axel’s eye as Professor Vexen said: “Choose wisely, the partner you choose today will be your partner for the remainder of the semester. This is a team effort. If one fails, both fail.”

              He dismissed them to choose partners, and Roxas frantically looked around the room, hoping to find another odd man out so he wouldn’t be stuck with Axel. _Fuck._ Roxas thought as he looked around. Everyone already seemed to be in groups. Except him and Axel. Slowly, he turned his gaze to Axel, who was still looking expectantly at him. He smiled awkwardly and him. _Fan-fucking-tastic._

              Axel grinned at Roxas, who in turn tried not to notice how Axel’s face was even more attractive when he smiled. Feeling the heat rising under his collar, he turned his attention to his textbook which he had opened to a page on cell division. Pretending to be interested in Meiosis, he tried to force away the attraction that was creeping up on him. _What the fuck, Roxas._ He thought to himself. _You literally just met the guy._ And yet that didn’t stop Axel from being attractive and Roxas from aching to try things that he never would have imagined doing with a guy.

              Shaking himself, he tried to calm himself down. Taking deep breaths he focused on something else. Anything else. Finally the bell rang and he got up and left, Axel lingering behind to chat with Demyx and Zexion before they split up and headed to a different lesson.

              Roxas was wandering down the corridor towards the exit in order to make his way to the rec center for his gym period. Silently berating himself for getting so flustered in Axel’s presence, he tried to focus on where he was supposed to be going. He heard the slapping of heavy boots running towards him on the stone corridor.

              “You’re headed the wrong direction,” Axel’s voice said from beside him. Axel had leaned over and was talking quietly in his ear. Roxas blushed furiously at the sudden closeness of Axel’s face to his own.

              “Oh,” he muttered, turning around to face Axel, who was just laughing. They started walking in the proper direction in silence.

              “So you liking school so far?” Axel asked loftily, as if he were giving up on the flirting. Roxas only shrugged, which Axel refused to take as an answer and continued to watch him with level, expectant eyes. With a sigh, Roxas finally answered.

              “It’s different from my old school.” There that wasn’t too much information. No way Axel could gather anything from that.

              “Different how? Where were you before here? I swear, if you say Destiny College, we can’t be friends.” With half a mind to answer yes, that was where he had gone before, Roxas felt the truth pass his lips before he had even decided to tell it.

              “No, not Destiny College. Actually it wasn’t even a boarding school.”

              “Really?” This had peaked Axel’s interest. “So which stuck up academy of finer learning did you attend?” Again, Roxas hadn’t even really deicded to tell the truth, but suddenly he found himself saying it, in a whisper so low, he was sure that there was no way that Axel had heard it. “Sorry? Didn’t catch that.” He cupped his ear in his hand and leaned towards Roxas. What was it about Axel that seemed to catch him so off guard. Why, when he had promised himself he was going to leave the past in the past and try to blend in among the rich and snobby students here, was he suddenly revealing the truth. He whispered the answer again, a little louder. “Sorry?”

              “Twilight High,” he said.

              “Oh! I’ve never heard of that one before.” He looked thoughtful as he pondered the unfamiliar name. _No,_ you _wouldn’t have._ Roxas thought as they crossed the threshold to the rec center.

              Lexaeus, the professor that was going to teach them in the gym was exactly what you’d expect from a private school gym teacher. He towered over the students, even Axel. He was built like a gorilla with a thick neck and even thicker arms. He looked as if he could crush a man’s skull with his fist. His mess of bright orange hair was escaping from the gel used to push it back and out of his broad face in little curls. Roxas and Axel took a seat on the highly polished wood floor of the gym as instructed. Roxas sat with his legs crossed and his chin resting in his palm as Axel stretched out the full length of his legs and leaned back on the heels of his palms.

              A little before 1600, Lexaeus dismissed them and they made their way back to their dorms. Roxas could feel the exhaustion of the day catching up with him as the wandered down the path towards the towering building. He couldn’t wait to lie down on his bed with his favourite book and just relax until dinner-time. Axel, who seemed to have forgotten their previous conversation, had moved on to quizzing Roxas about his favourite books and songs. Roxas continued to give one word answers until Axel asked him what his favourite band was.

              “Uh… you’ve probably never heard of them,” he answered truthfully.

              “Try me. I’m something of a music connoisseur!” Axel answered, grinning at Roxas as if he should be impressed with Axel’s knowledge. When Roxas told Axel the name of the band, he got nothing but the blank stare he had expected. “I guess you were right! Who are they?”

              “A Japanese rock band,” Roxas admitted with his cheek flushing pink, not wanting to build a reputation of being a weeboo or otaku.

              “That’s really cool! You’ll have to show me some of their stuff sometime!” Roxas smiled unenthusiastically and nodded slightly. He highly doubted that Axel would actually enjoy the band. Few people did. “Alright then! What’s your favourite movie?”

              “The Matrix,” he answered moving back to his one word answers. “I like movies that make me think. I’m also partial to Spirited Away” Where had that come from? The comment had just slipped out. Axel always got him talking more than he wanted.

              “The Matrix! That’s a good one! I haven’t seen that one in years!” Axel replied, smiling, obviously please that Roxas appeared to opening up and playing along finally. They stepped out of the elevator on to their floor,  and separated at Axel’s door. “I’ll see you at dinner, Roxy.” With a wink, he closed his door behind him, leaving Roxas in the hall, completely dumbfounded.

              As he closed his own door he tried not to think about how Axel always seemed to catch him so off guard and how he seemed to be able to get Roxas to say the things he never meant to say. With a sigh, he dumped the contents of his messenger bag on his bed. Out tumbled a notebook, his math and bio textbooks, his day planner, and a scrap of loose leaf paper. He stared at the paper on his bed curiously for a moment. What was that doing there? It was an ordinary piece of lined paper folded into a square, obviously torn from a notebook.

              It was so unlike anything Roxas would ever do. He never ripped pages out of his note book, and he certainly never folded them up in that fashion. This page was clearly not one he had put there. He leaned forward and picked the page up off the bed and unfolded it slowly, not wanting to rip it in case it was some one’s notes that had fallen in there on accident.

              The hand writing written in black ink across the page was neither tidy nor messy, so it was hard to discern whether it belonged to a boy or a girl. Quickly he scanned the note on the page, then froze.

              _Roxas,_

_I told you we had some lessons together. You are even cuter in person than you are in your profile picture. Particularly when you do that thing with your nose when you are concentrating. I look forward to seeing you lots this semester. I really hope we can be friends._

_XOXO_

_Lea_

              Roxas swallowed and reread the message again. Lea. He felt his face going red. He had crossed paths with Lea today and he had never even noticed. He hadn’t even noticed someone get so close to him that they were able to slip the note into his bag. He racked his brain, trying to figure out who could possibly have slipped the note into his bag, and when. And who had been sitting near enough to him in more than one lesson and they were able to see the way he scrunched up his nose when he was concentrating.

              The first person that came to mind was Axel, with his sly smile and his bright green eyes. He felt his heart start racing. His hands were shaking. Was this fury? Or was it something else?

              He put the note down on his desk and threw himself on his bed, burying his face in his arms as he tried to convince himself there was no way it was Axel while somewhere deep down inside his chest he wished it truly was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! The latest chapter! Hope you liked it! let me know what you think so far <3


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